Offshore Explorer with Scott Dodgson

Sex and Sailing Redux

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Let me couch these stories into this atmosphere. Pretend you have come over to my boat one evening and we are sharing dinner and maybe a drink or two. The sun has set, and the stars just blanket the sky. The temperature is a balmy 80 or 27 Celsius. The cockpit light hanging over the thick varnished table reflects a warm golden hue on everyone’s face. The table has the remnants of a fine dinner. Wine glasses with a couple of sips left. We might be into Cognac, so I have my Tiffany cut glass snifters coddling the VSOP reminds one of fruits flowers oak notes and dreamy rich round earthly flavors, even without the aroma you are living and breathing all these flavors wafting across the water from the land. In the Caribbean the soft scent of palm with a hint of lilac. If we are in the pacific the scents are mixed in a favor stream of sweet and smoke. If we are in Greece Rosemary, sage, dried coriander. And turkey pine, and the rich loamy soil of history.

You are comfortable and relaxed. But there is one thing nagging you, why do I feel so hungry for sex? So, you ask me your captain because there is nothing he can’t deliver or know. I’ll tell you a story. My mindset for years was to find the perfect sexy woman, who would be the perfect partner to fulfill my illusions or delusions. I was granted my wish. Here are stories about all the other crazy uninhibited nonsense that takes place in the bubble of boats, sea, and waves.

Mosaic Artist https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R

The Casket Salesman https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NHN1FHT

Paulette Mc Williams music https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-womans-story/1522026059

Training Stories

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 8 Dec 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R

American Maritime Pilot: The Robert Smalls Story

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 18:50:25 +0000

Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American politician, publisher, businessman, and maritime pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort–Port Royal–Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.

After the American Civil War he returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina Legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. Smalls authored state legislation providing for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States. He founded the Republican Party of South Carolina. Smalls was the last Republican to represent South Carolina's 5th congressional district

Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R

Cooking On The Boat

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 3 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Next to sailing, sex, cooking and eating/drinking is the most important activity on a boat.

General Tips: Planning, Make meals in advance, space management, The right kit, expectations be realistic or not!

I cover all the systems for cooking as well as different equipment for your situation.

Day Sailor, Live aboard that stays put and Cruiser, to charter chef every category has different needs.

Prepare to use local products in your cooking.

Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R

Portrait of an American Mariner Phineas Banning

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Father of the Port of Los Angeles

The American mariner does not exist in a vacuum. Commerce and war are the two key principles of purpose for the sailor. The third principle of purpose, exploration, is a distant third. If the American mariner was the central character in the movie about America, the supporting characters would be the entrepreneurs and visionaries that facilitated their direction and motive. The lead supporting character in the story of Los Angeles, who was both a mariner and a visionary businessman, was Phineas Banning. Known as the “Father of the Port of Los Angeles,” he built the first breakwater in San Pedro to protect ships from the sea.

Phineas Banning was working in the dockyards in Philadelphia. At 20 years old, he signed up to work a passage to a then exotic destination–Southern California.

Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R

Mate Wanted

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000

I have hired or invited hundreds of crew onto my boats of the years. I have learned some difficult lessons, but I have found a couple of key elements to allowing someone on your boat who will be with you 24/7 for an extended time: Kindness and training.

Please buy my new book Mosaic Artist: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R

Sake' Barrel Divers

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Saké Barrel Divers

The mariner brings a spirit of work and focus to any job. A fisherman brings faith. Together, these traits form a citizen of the oceans. In the middle chapters of world nautical history, specific characteristics from the tenacity of the Japanese fisherman/sailor have profoundly shaped the American mariner. Sailor’s knowledge is transformative. Knowledge of techniques, sources of best practices, the intuition and faith, are guidelines to living on the ocean. Like flotsam and jetsam, what doesn’t work on this tide might be the solution on the next. The American mariner at the turn of the century could be characterized as being in a period of transition. The Japanese fisherman had a thousand years of uninterrupted practice at fishing and sailing. Their fortitude and skill became the envy of the white population in Southern California during a time of Jim Crow. Anger and racism persist today among a few, but it is clear the heritage of the Japanese fisherman and sailor added a beneficial facet to the American marine character.
Japanese fisherman sailed down the west coast of American past Point Conception and found the Channel Islands. The Japanese showed great courage and determination to build a new life based on ancient skills. Japanese on the Channel Islands began harvesting abalone at the turn of the century. The Channel Islands lay a few miles off Santa Barbara. Both Japanese and Chinese abalone competed fiercely for the abalone, a delicacy much loved in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo and China town. The railroad brought many Chinese and Japanese laborers to Southern California. However, the Japanese that made the mark were the sailors and fishermen.

Japanese fishermen began diving for abalones, first as free divers from surface floats and later, more successfully, as hard-hat divers. They used old rice wine casks as floats to rest on after each dive. Taking a few deep breaths, they would dive to the bottom and return to the surface with their catch. They quickly earned the nickname of saké barrel divers because of their unusual technique. Abalone are snails with a large foot used for grasping a rock. They feed off the kelp and the organisms that live in and around the kelp. Often an urchin will attach itself to the heavy shell and offer camouflage. Once a diver spots an abalone, he swoops in and tries to lift it off the rock as quickly as possible. This can be done with some success. If the Abalone locks, it’s meaty foot to the rock, a bar will be needed to pry the foot off the rock. It is not a simple task, especially free diving.

In 1900, county ordinances were passed that made it illegal to gather abalones from less than twenty feet of water. These regulations were racially motivated. The regulations completely halted Chinese commercial abalone operations. Undaunted by the new regulations, the Japanese dominated the collecting of the abalone in a short time.

“Avalon. Catalina is up in arms. She has been invaded by Japan. A lot of little brown men, with a small sloop, appeared at Empire a few days since, and are preceding to skin the rocks of the abalones. These Japs are divers. They wear goggles with which they locate the abalone as they swim along the surface, and making a spring, they emulate the ‘hell diver’ and disappear to wrench the inoffensive shellfish from its hold on the rock by a quick thrust of an iron bar. Practice has made these men able to remain underwater an inconceivable length of time, and they seem to be as much at home in and under the water as the shag...” LA Times. April 21, 1903. Soon the albacore was over fished. One of the last remaining drying camps was White Point. The Japanese were routed by police and forced to leave. Unable to dive for albacore, the fisherman took up residence on Terminal Island in Los Angeles harbor.

Shifting gears, the Japanese fisherman took to purse seine fishing for tuna.

Japanese fishermen built small rowboats to explore the San Pedro Bay for tuna and used 6-foot poles for their catch. By 1907, the Japanese fishing village of Fish Harbor was established with its first houses built on pilings along the shore of the main channel. Within a few years, the Japanese population on Terminal Island had increased to 600. The tight-knit community, living in isolation, developed their own blend of Japanese and English, referred to as “kii-shu ben”, a dialect from the Kii district in Wakayama, the township where many had immigrated.

While small motorboats increased the distance traveled for their catch, Japanese immigrants devised an unprecedented fishing technique. They would send an advance boat to scout for schools of albacore tuna and catch the anchovies and sardines the tuna followed for live bait.

Then, a fishing vessel with a team of fishermen would release the bait and spear the tuna using short bamboo poles with hooks while standing on the steel walkways near the hulls and toss them on to the deck of the boat. Because of local fishermen’s high yield of tuna, several fish canneries opened on Terminal Island.

Their success was met with anger and violence. The Los Angeles Herald reported August 4, 1920: “Fishermen battle. Vessel blown up. San Diego, August 4. — The police today expressed the belief that ill feeling among the Japanese an Italian and Austrian fishermen operating off the Southern California coast, has led to a sea battle in which the Japanese fishing
schooner Yomato was blown up or sunk and her entire crew slain. Bits of wreckage from
the Yomato were found today. Recently, four bodies were washed ashore. How many lives were lost is unknown?”

August 7, 1920 [LAH]: “Hunt Austrians as Jap boat wrecks. Nets on Japanese fishing craft were tucked in lockers today and the smacks themselves idled back and forth in zig-zag courses over the fishing lanes while the expressionless faces of their owners searched the sea for a sight of certain Austrian boats, wanted in connection with the sinking of the Jap boat Itzumato. Government patrol boats are plying overfishing banks in Southern California waters on the same mission, trying to find the craft and its crew believed to be responsible for the ramming of

the Itzumato and the probable murder of its crew. Working to end the feud prevailing for weeks between Japanese and Austrian fishermen, Fish and Game Warden Paul Anderson, on board the patrol boat Albacore, came on the wrecked Itzumato off Catalina Island last night. Coincident with the report of the finding of the Itzumato, it was reported in San Diego by American fishermen that the crew of a wrecked Japanese boat had been picked up by an Italian fishing craft. Word of the Phrone Rose, an Austrian boat, has not been received for the past 10 days and authorities are now confident that this boat has met the same fate as the other, being sunk with her crew on board. The fishing boat Wanderer of San Pedro, abandoned by her crew because of a broken propeller shaft, is now believed to be a derelict at sea, according to the latest reports. With the finding of the wrecked Itzumato, four boats are now missing in Southern California waters, only one of which has been fully accounted for. Besides the Wanderer and Phrone Rose, a Japanese boat named Yamato disappeared last month and is believed to have been swallowed up by the sea and hew crew murdered in the Jap-Austrian warfare.”

The Japanese were in the right in these conflicts. The Austrians and Italians were poaching the fishing grounds. No matter the right, being white won the day. No one was ever prosecuted for the murders. The warfare eventually dissipated with the loss of fishing stocks. The incidents were closely watched by the local fisherman. For Los Angeles locals, these reports were sensational news.

Testimonies of the times:
“My father’s name is Tomekichi Takeuchi. The Japanese came from Shima-gun, Mieken, Japan. He landed in San Francisco in 1902, at twenty-two years old. He worked as a cook in a restaurant for a couple of years. Heard him mention how he threw a pie at a customer and got fired. He moved to Los Angeles, Little Tokyo, and got a job as a private chauffeur driver, off and on. Meantime, he moved to Terminal Island, called his wife from Japan. He and his friend, Mr. Heizaburo Hamaguchi, leased a fishing boat called Amazon from French Cannery. They carried, including them, thirteen crew members. They fished from near the lighthouse, to the north and much later toward Mexico.” Kimiye Okuno Takeuchi Ariga.

“Fish Harbor on Terminal Island was on the southwestern part of the island and comprised a fishing fleet, canneries, and 5,000 Japanese men, women, and children. The adults were the first generation Issei from Japan, and their children who were born in America are the Nisei like me. The fishermen working out of Fish Harbor visited the local waters of Catalina, Santa Barbara, and San Diego to catch sardines, mackerel, skipjack, and tuna throughout the year. My father was captain of a small fishing boat and had several men working for him. My mother worked in the fish cannery, of which they were part owners. Each cannery had a very loud whistle, which was sounded when a ship came into the harbor with a catch, signaling that it was time to go to work. Most of the ladies knew what cannery was calling for work by its distinctive whistle. I recall hearing the loud whistles from the various canneries being blown one after another. This meant that many ships had come back full of fish. My mother, like all the ladies, always had her work clothes ready, because there was no definite schedule when the ships would come in. Most of the ships did not have a radio or other communications equipment. Upon hearing the whistle, my mother would drop whatever she was doing, change clothes and run to work, along with many others in the neighborhood. Four of the largest canneries were French Sardine, Van Camp, Franco-Italian and Southern California.” Frank Koo Endo.

By the 1930s, the Japanese community had increased to 2,000, with most of the men employed as fishermen and the women working in the canneries.
In 1935, following the depression, 6,000 people were directly employed in the fishing industry. Its payroll was the largest in San Pedro, approximately three-quarters of a million dollars per month.

The industry was at its peak during World War II. During the fifties, sardines, and mackerel gradually diminished, causing the decline of the industry in San Pedro.
There is no better example of the determination, work ethic and skill of the Japanese fisherman. They were directly responsible for creating the fishing industry that employed 6,000 American workers despite the sickness that was Jim Crow.

At its height in 1942, the Nikkei population had grown to 3,000, just prior to its abrupt demise following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Internment

“On December 7, 1942, I was in the twelfth grade. My father was still working the rice business in Japan, and soon I was going to graduate with the class of summer 1942. I heard on the radio that morning that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese. I really didn’t know where Pearl Harbor was but was shocked by the news. I wondered if this would have any effect on me. Early that afternoon, I went to see a movie in San Pedro. I boarded the ferryboat that I took daily to school. Upon docking in San Pedro, I was taken into custody, along with other Japanese Americans, by armed soldiers. We were put into a temporary barbed wire enclosure. I told them I was an American citizen, but they stated they had orders to stop all Japanese. After being detained a couple of hours, we were told to return to the island.” Frank Koo Endo.

On February 19, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, ultimately sending 120,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps. Within two days, Terminal Island residents were told they had 48 hours to prepare for relocation. Former Terminal Islanders recall with great sadness giving up almost everything they owned, including business their families had built up for generations.

Interning Japanese Americans was done out of fear and ignorance. It was illegal. The Japanese sailors had made their mark on the American mariner.

offshoreexplorer.org

Check Lists

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000

https://nomadicsailing.com/blog/pre-sail-checklist/

https://sailingbritican.com/sailboat-maintenance-checklist/

Fugitives

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 1 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Fugitives

I have found over fifty years of sailing around the world that fugitives of all sorts gravitate to boats as a way of hiding from authorities. I would know. I was a fugitive from myself yet not wanted by the law but so emotionally disconnected, my head put out a warrant for my heart.

There is a beautiful disconnectedness about sailing. Ocean as far as the eye can see. I have met and been absolutely surprised by sailors I have discovered were fugitives from the law.

I met Amos Hardy on the dock in Puerto Vallarta. I was coming into the slip from Cabo San Lucas after a rough, windy, and rainy couple of days across the mouth of the Gulf of California. I stood off in the bay while a squall roared through pushing the boat back out to sea. The squall lasted thirty minutes. The deck was washed of salt. The fresh tropical water spilled out of the gunnels. The tropical sun turned the whole place into a natural steam bath. I found the slip where I was going to stay for a couple of days. As I approached the slip, my mate, Alex stood ready with the lines. Fenders were down for a port too docking. That is when I saw Amos for the first time. He hustled off a 32-foot Bay Liner to catch our lines. He was dressed in a white business shirt, unbuttoned to the third button from the top. His shirt hung over his natural round belly. He was no athletic figure and never was. He was more pear shaped. He wore a pair of pink shorts and black loafers. This wasn’t the outfit you expect from someone on the dock catching lines.

He caught the bow line and started to pull the line very hard. I yelled at him to just tie it off. He looked up at me puzzled. I could see he wasn’t comfortable with taking orders. He smiled a thin sort of smile. My mate stepped of onto the dock, my other mate, Joe, who was sleeping came up the companionway stretched and yawned, then hopped onto the dock taking the stern line with him. We kissed the dock oh so gently and Amos let out a cheer of “Well done Captain! I’m American!”

I greeted him and thanked him for helping with the lines. He was nice. He asked where did I come from… Where was I going. He hoped I had a good trip down from the “USA.” You can always tell a new traveler, especially Americans they always seem ready to join other Americans, finding the foreign experience to taxing. Americans are not alone in this behavior. The English tend to flock.

Amos invited us to his boat for a drink. We were happy to be on the dock after the rough ride.

Amos spun us a story about his trip down the Baja. He drove his Bay Liner from Los Angeles. As he was telling his story, he ran his hands through his thinning hair. He was a stressed-out man trying to be cool. Alex told me later he felt sorry for Amos. He was way out of his element. I asked what did he think Amos’s element was? Corporate was the simple answer.

Amos asked us all out to dinner. Alex begged out of the dinner claiming a headache. Joe who was just 20 years old didn’t want to hang out with his elders. I went with Amos to dinner. All through dinner he was searching out for threats. I could see he was wanting to confess something. Just before the main course of steak and potatoes he broke down and cried.

He was an accountant for a school board. He stole money from the school board for years. He referred to the theft as salary compensation. He wasn’t getting paid enough and he had to support is family. His wife spent too much and the two kids needed a lot of dental work. He didn’t think anyone would notice. He added bills for a service company he owned but didn’t do anything for a little over a million dollars of false building. He claimed his was going to pay it all back. It got out of hand. His supervisor approved the payments over and over again without asking why. I asked him if he had any of the money left? He had this relatively new Bayliner he was hoping to sell but instead he drove away from the dock and kept going and here is where he landed.

Anyone who has sailed the Baja coast knows there are not many places to get gas along the way. Those few gas stations are far enough apart that you need a bladder or barrels of fuel. Carrying gasoline on deck is a dangerous proposition. Diesel is okay, but gas that’s just crazy.

Much to his credit figured he wouldn’t get far without doing something. At this point he was a fugitive. The Sherriff had gone to his door to arrest him. He dashed out the back door when he heard the knock. He was wearing his business suit and the shirt he had on. The shorts were own board.

He drove down the 101 to the 405 and parked his car at the airport long stay lot. He took the bus back up to the marina. His biggest anxiety was that the sheriff’s harbor patrol would be alerted, and he would be nabbed. He arrived at his slip in the dark. He started his boat and left quietly passing under the watchful eye of the sheriff’s station. He headed South towards Mexico. He had his driver’s license and six hundred bucks in cash and his credit cards.

This was the 80s and the instant reporting of your card was still delayed. Amos knew he need to use the cards before they were cancelled. He was desperate. He filled up in Ensenada. He was again lucky not to be caught or have his boat impounded. He used his driver’s license to fill up saying he got off course and had mechanical trouble. He didn’t know he was in Mexican waters and need fuel to go back to San Diego. This was a plausible excuse. He got his fuel. He made down to Turtle Bay. He arrived with fumes. The range at 10 knots is 346nm according to the brochure. Amos told me he was praying all the way. The next leg was to fuel in Mag Bay. Santa Maria is a little town where a few big sport fishing boats operate. I asked him if he had any charts? He didn’t he relied on a book he bought at the Ship’s Store the local chandlery. Sometimes ignorance is luck.

He made it to Cabo San Lucas. He filled the boat and talked with a broker. The broker and ex-pat American told him he couldn’t sell his boat because it was wanted along with the owner the US law enforcement. The broker told Amos he would tell the harbor master if he doesn’t know already. He quietly advised Amos to get on his boat and go.

Amos ran out of the office in a panic. He drove is boat in the direction of Puerto Vallarta. The boat ran out of fuel 50 nm from the coast. He drifted for a couple of days. He confessed to me and to God that he was wrong. He promised he would turn himself in and take his medicine. He swore on his knees looking up to the heavens on a boat tossing in the ocean couldn’t be a fugitive from justice. At that moment a Mexican fishing boat came by to see if he needed help. They towed him into Puerto Vallarta. His prayers were answered. Sort of…. The fisherman offered him a good price for the boat.

He thought. Okay. He needed money right away. Half the value of the Bayliner was better than nothing at this point.

When I sailed up and docked my boat, he was waiting for the fisherman to come back with the money.

“Did you get the money?” I asked.

“Yes.” He was smug about his affirmation.

“That’s great, isn’t it?” I couldn’t tell but I supposed he didn’t get the money and he wasn’t even able to afford this dinner.

Then he hit me with the bomb. “Can you take me with you?”

The wind blew through the open-air restaurant. The iguanas screamed. The screeching sound of reptiles faded with the onset of a thunderous squall. Amos looked so helpless. I could see in his eyes I was his last bit of luck if I would just say yes.

It was a big ask. Amos didn’t know how risky taking a fugitive on board was for me and the owner of the yacht. Our side could and would lose everything. I would be jailed, and the boat impounded.

I leaned over the table with soiled dishes, steak bones and chewed steak gristle. “Go home.” I whispered. “Be with your family.” “You are still young.”

He was in tears. His big round sunburned cheeks glistened with tears of relief. He choked. He coughed. Gathering a deep breath with a wheeze he asked, “I’m not good at this fugitive life, am I?”

I gave him money for plane ticket home and cab fare. I put him a cab and sent him off to face his consequences. I didn’t hear about Amos for twenty years. He was discovered running a dive charter business in small island in Polynesia. He never went to the airport. He married a beautiful woman who came to dive from New York. He was recognized by a school board member when one of their friends were showing them pictures of their dive vacation.

Fugitives have narratives. Some fugitives are running from other powers and not the law. Teddy Rawlins is six foot three and solid as a rock. He looks more Sicilian than most Sicilians. He says he was Irish, English, and Bostonian as if Bostonian is a part of a genetic heritage. He wears a Boston Red Sox hat tilted back on his head. A black tuft of hair curls out from under the bill over his forehead. Deep set chocolate-colored eyes give him a sadness and vulnerability about his presence. Make no mistake he was anything but vulnerable. He was a predator.

I was in a café in Antibes France drinking coffee and going through the Herald reading the American news. I was reading the box scores.

I learned to read box scores from my grandfather who was a sportswriter. I could recreate the game in my head. The Phillies are my team for better or worse. They lost last night to Pittsburg, 2 to 1. They lost the lead in the eighth because of a hit batter by a rookie reliever. The next batter hit a double driving in one run making it 1 to 1. With the pitcher batting, why was the starting pitch still pitching and batting no less? I found the box score from the day before where they played a double header both went into extra innings. He was the last guy standing. The pitcher hit a single and drove in the run. Final score 2 to 1.

A shadow fell over the paper. With the sun at his back, he stood over me like a gunslinger from and Italian spaghetti western and said, “Who’s you rooting for?”

“I’m a Phillies fan.”

“Good.” A guttural “good” exhaled like the air from a punch to the gut. “If you were a Yankees fan, I wouldn’t be your friend.”

He sat down across me. “You from Philly?”

I said yes and he launched into a story about driving to Philly in a school bus with his band. He played guitar. His thick hammer like fingers made me doubt the truth of statement. Later I learned he was actually a pretty good player. They were on their way to Florida when they when they ran off the road in a snowstorm. The bus happened to have a ton of pot in false compartments in the floor of the bus. The band left the bus in the middle of a cloverleaf exit and walked to a holiday inn. The left a note that they might be back after the storm. They stayed in the Holiday Inn and played in the lounge for a week. The band who was supposed to play was stuck in Altoona in a snowstorm.

Teddy would go on and on with stories. Most were very funny, almost always there was drugs, rock in roll, and mishap. If Terry liked, you, he really was a loyal friend. If he, didn’t you were lower than scum.

Discerning the truth about Teddy was like reading a box score to a baseball game. The information was there in names, positions, innings, hits, type of hits, runs scored, RBIs, innings pitched, etc.

The truth as much as I could discern after hundreds of hours of hanging out with Teddy was something like this. Teddy grew up with a kid nicknamed “American Express” because he was welcomed everywhere. He was the son to a notorious gangster. Teddy got sucked into that world. Teddy started a construction company to build houses in the Boston area. Teddy was a master cabinet maker. He was so good with wood he built many redesigned cabinets on mega yachts. He is in demand.

American Express was his partner and borrowed the money from his father the gangster so he and Teddy could buy land and build houses. The deal went sideways from there. American Express didn’t work with Teddy. He preferred to do coke and play in the band. When the loans came due Teddy was responsible. American Express had spent most of the money on coke. The mobster father wasn’t going to press his degenerate son, so he blamed Teddy for everything. One day while on a building site, Teddy was installing cabinets in the kitchen when two mob thugs showed up to teach him a lesson. The lesson went all wrong. Teddy defended himself. He put both thugs in the hospital. He walked away from the site and boarded a plane for Europe. He settled in Antibes. At first, he kept a low profile. After a while his mother had extracted a promise from the next-door mob boss to leave her son alone. He made one stipulation that he never see his face again in Boston. Teddy has lived in Antibes for the last thirty years a fugitive.

Fugitives come to be fugitives because of different kinds of crimes. Amos was a really a con man. Teddy wanted to preserve his life from predictable retribution. David Taylor on the other hand was a thief, possibly a murderer, with absolutely no redeeming morality. He was bad. He was in every sense of the word a pirate. David Taylor was wanted by Interpol and Scotland Yard for robbing a bank, theft of boats, and suspected murder.

I didn’t know all these nefarious acts when I first met David. I learned about them when an Interpol agent stopped by my boat while I was fueling my boat in Antigua. I had just crossed from Europe and David was one of my crew. We arrived two weeks earlier. I hadn’t seen him since he got off the boat. He had a British passport. I cleared him with the rest of the crew. The Interpol agent a Belgium man who looked like a policeman with his black dress shoes, slightly scuffed and low on the heels, a tie and a sports jacket that was never in style no matter he thought. He was completely out of his comfort zone in the yachting world. He asked me where he was going? I didn’t know. But the agent seemed to be suspicious of me for aiding a known felon.

David said thanks for the ride and left. I saw him briefly speaking with another skipper outside the Incanto Restaurant.

The agent told me what he was wanted for, and I was shocked. He was considered dangerous. I had just spent a month and a half with the man, and I didn’t see that coming.

In the yachting world there are lots of people wanting to escape from their world. Lots of 20 and 30 somethings who started down the corporate path only to get frustrated with their progress and take a hiatus crewing and traveling the world. David seemed like that sort of guy.

He was clean cut. Blond hair blue eyes five-foot ten, athletic build, quick with a smile. The Agent’s description of David.

I could see David in a corporate setting. He was bright and articulate. He spoke fluent Spanish and French. He was well educated or as he said ironically as well educated as the English school system would allow a coal miner’s son.

David was a good sailor. You can always tell very quickly experienced sailors. They take to the task whether trimming a sail, hoisting an anchor, or helming. I knew David was my kind of people or so I thought.

My family came from Wales. My Great Grand Father was an orphan from the Isle of Man. He was brought to America by a Dutch family who gathered kids to work for the family in the coal mining business in Scranton. My great grandfather, Nathan was indentured until he was 25 years old. Like other kids from a working background, he was very savvy in the ways of the world where his classmates from upper income families were not.

He spoke of having a daughter. He was sad he had to be away from her, but his ex-wife made life impossible for him. He decided one day to take a break from all the pressure of modern life and find his footing.

I liked the concept of finding one’s footing. Some people don’t possess the disposition to be on the sea. They find land as a better place, but a man with sailing in his blood finds a rolling and pitching deck of a ship the perfect place for finding his footing in life. David understood.

I met him in Rhodes Greece. I was looking for crew to come to the Caribbean. He was quick to sign on. I felt I was lucky to have him. Finding experienced crew can be difficult. In all my crossings looking for competent deliver crew as a major task. I tried agencies and they didn’t work. I liked picking up guys and sometimes girls with enough competence and personal responsibility to stand watch while I get some shuteye.

David demonstrated his skills on the deck and navigating. He asked the right questions and became maybe one of the best mates I ever had over 50 years of sailing with crews.

I have heard plenty stories about men whose lives went wrong on land who come to the sea to live a wonderful productive life. They may be a bank robbing, thieving, murderer on land, but on the sea, they are the perfect sailor. This is not an unusual story. I hoped it wasn’t true.

Before the Agent stepped off the fuel dock. He walked on the dock like one walks on ice. I said you will never catch him. The Agent nodded saying we will.

The years passed as they do. Moving from one side of the Atlantic to the other. Plenty adventures stacking them on top of one another blurring the memories. The image of David hoisting the main stayed in the fore front of my memory. Maybe it stayed because he was accused of such violent crimes. I don’t know. I wanted to trust my instinct believing that he was falsely accused, but why did he run? Does running prove guilt? There is a certain logic to it.

I grew up in Philly. I spent the last two years of high school in Bay Village Ohio. Home to the Dr. Sam Shepard murder. For those who don’t know the brilliant brain surgeon Dr. Sam Shepard was accused of killing his wife. He couldn’t prove his innocence for years. Eventually he did. The television series the Fugitive staring David Janssen and the movie by the same name stared Harrison Ford are based on this sensual murder. I lived a couple of doors down from where the murder took place. I have always been amenable to the escapist story.

I later caught a glimpse of David in Trinidad sailing a catamaran. He was alone from what I could see. I called to him. He turned and looked in my direction and waved. I am sure he recognized my boat and me for that matter, but he was working a new narrative to say he was free.

Tinker Toys

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 07:00:00 +0000

I offer advice on sailing in the Caribbean during hurricane season. There are plenty of bad pieces of water like the Bay of Biscay, Bay of Lyon, the Mona Passage and more. How to prepare you boat to sail away from the weather event and what to do if you are hunkering down. Bad weather avoidance.

Death in Cairo

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 4 Aug 2021 07:00:00 +0000

A love story.

Knowing the truth about yourself may be the hardest insight to discover. Human beings have a natural ability to deceive themselves about the most important and sometimes the most critical aspects of their mental machinations. Being deceitful is commonplace. What isn’t commonplace is truthfulness. There is a global business of selling insights and truth. The path has been monetized. This plethora of guides to your personal truth has existed forever, gurus, spiritual masters, yogis, priests, and priestess, rabis, pastors, fathers, friars, monks, shamans, psychologists, doctors, prophets, gods, and writers. Writers are the most dangerous. Their commitment is to the deceit, not to truth. Truth is a McGuffin. The best writers are magicians casting a spell that seems real but vaporizes under scrutiny. Skilled writers can spin a story in which all the evidence of the existence of truth appears irrefutable. The guides to personal truth point the way down the path to salvation, the writer repels down the path laughing at the darkness as his line uncoils until the line snaps stiff, drawing the writer back to the surface of comfortable deceit. He is a writer. It is a game of sorts. Follow him and you won’t have a line to snap you back. You will fall into the rabbit hole of disillusion and depression.

I am a writer and a sailor. My psychological machinations are akin to stepping from one boat to another or stepping from the dock to the boat. Never straddle between land and boat: that is how you fall into the water. I have been wet many times. I have fallen in the drink so many times that I learned how to swim. I don’t panic at all while falling. I have deceived myself with so much conviction I smile when I land in the dark waters of life and sink to the quiet, darkest bottom.

The problem with this daredevil behavior is its dangerous and alluring to the innocents.

Repo Man

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Repo Man. I never liked taking a boat from someone. I would be devastated if it happened to me. Banks just want their money. They don't care. I share a story on how I got into the business. Driving for Vessel Assist made me familiar with what boats were around and how to find them. I was approached by a recovery agency to find a couple of boats. I found them and became on of the favorites of the agency for getting har to get boats. I traveled to Hawaii, Mexico, and Columbia to repo boats. I share the details of a scam for stealing small boats and sending the hulls to Asia.

My First Crossing

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Turbulent is how I would describe my teen years. I started down one path, going to college with all the uncertainty and trepidation leaving home trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life unaware I would do a lot of different things before I finished. In fact, I’m still doing different things.

Few have you probably aren’t old enough to remember the draft as a participant. The draft was the Damocles sword hanging over every male who was 18 years old. Nixon had dropped all the draft deferments like going to college or and I’m half joking here being rich and white.

At eighteen I was faced with an important decision. Did I love my country enough to die for it?

The counterculture was roaring. Four dead in Ohio just happened. I knew at least five guys who had gone to Vietnam and two were killed.

My friends were in a band. I am not musical in any way, but I love music and I am married to a great musician. And I mean great Paulette McWilliams. I added a link to her new album A Woman’s Story. We all talked about if we were drafted, we would go to Canada. Canada was just across Lake Erie from us in Bay Village Ohio.

You are a sailor.

https://www.cycrr.org

A Sailor's Point of View

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Oceanic travel by passenger ship began ending when Airlines Pan Am announced regular transatlantic flights in 1945. Travel by plane changed the very essence of the traveler’s psychology and the fundamental experience of a different place. We travel to learn and grow. Curiosity drives our quest to see the next port, to look around the bend, to climb the mountain top, and sail to the edge of the horizon. Our travel experience informs our understanding of our place on earth and the relationship of places in ourselves. Traveling provides the contrast to our normal. A different place makes this place, your place, your home understandable. How we are prepared to experience our travel has fundamentally changed since flying became open to all who could afford a ticket. We have lost the benefits of preparation and thus lost the ability to comprehend the nuanced aspects of travel both interior and exterior.

With air travel, we no longer wait in a heightened state of anticipation over discovering that distant place. Honestly, the wait is about discovering that far-off place in our soul. No long evenings on the deck of a massive ship watching sunrises and sunsets, where the only entertainment is playing shuffleboard, conversing with fellow travelers to glean inside information about the best restaurants, reliable drivers, clean hotels, crime, shopping, history and a variety of other subjects needing to grasp the contours of the new place. Our vanity demands a world-weary appearance cover our innocence as if they will sanction us for our lack of experience. Air travel excluded the long periods of wonderfully anxious and sumptuous anticipation. Waiting is something we sailors do well as we have no choice given the speed at which we travel. Some travelers are pressed for time, limited by funds, limited by vacation time from work, wanting to skip the first big step and get to the heart of the vacation. The casual traveler wants to be transported from his comfortable chair at home to the steps of the Roman coliseum as seamlessly as changing channels on their flat screen television. No sweat. No hassle. No experience? Seen it. Ate it. Hiked it. Slept in it. That will do, thank you very much, but I have to be back at work tomorrow. The experience of place washed away within days of returning home, leaving little or no impression of that place on their minds or soul. What is the point of travel if you are not willing to be fashioned by the place even a little?

I am that sailor and here are the stories, large and small from a sailor’s point of view.

What is the sailor’s point of view? How does one achieve that awareness and perception?

Bohemian Sailors

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Bohemian Sailors

Coral Bay St. John USVI

For a moment in time Coral Bay was the home of sailors who are visionaries and hippies and drug smugglers. I have never come across a group of sailors with this level of mad sailing skills unless I was at an America’s Cup race or a Whitbread/Volvo race.

There are few places in the world were time and circumstances create a legendary moment. You might think of Hemingway in Paris with Gertrude Stein, Picasso, and many notables. Maybe the 80’s in the village and the punk scene. Phuket beach action and culture.

That piece of time is rare. Most of us just read about it or hear about it. Woodstock was a happening and the people who traveled through Haight Ashbury, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Vietnam War protests, Rock and roll, Earth Day, civil rights revolution and out the other side opted for a different life; a life of truth and peace far away from mass commercialism, suburbs, two cars, gray suits and the grind of the modern life. ‘Life” in quotes because it is a life less desired, but submissiveness required. Those few brave souls who realized early on in their lives that one is all they get found a life in Coral Bay. I was lucky enough to be a part of a little recognized but profoundly significant community experience. It wasn’t a political movement. Nothing of real value came from it other than those who shared the space and time. I was on the periphery and maybe because of the slight distance I was able to gain a perspective on what was happening. The very coolness, nobility, honesty of purpose lasted a brief moment in time before the principles scattered to the far ends of the earth a small group created the first resorts in Costa Rica.

The one thing we can be sure of is things change. Coral Bay is no different than any other port except the change came a little slower than most. Coral Bay is located on the eastern end of St. John USVI. It is more a protected anchorage than port. In the network further east on the island is Hurricane Hole. A series of inlets and fingers give hurricane hole almost a perfect 360-degree protection from the ocean and the low-slung hills and towering mountains north protect it from gale force winds. Hurricane Hole is without a doubt the best place to take cover when the storms come.

The Charter Business Part 3

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 07:00:00 +0000

The voyage that never ends.

I was asked by charterers over my years generally the same question but in different forms, “Are we one of the best charter groups you have ever had?” or “We weren’t the worst charter, were we?” In other words, “who was the worst charterer? What were they like and what did they do?” My reply was if you are asking this question, you probably feel comfortable about your behavior and your charter has been successful.

If you didn’t ask the question, it is because you didn’t care or you were so bad everyone knew the answer, yes you are in the hall of fame of worst charterers!

I admit that over the years there were a few charters I conducted that weren’t up to grade, because of weather, equipment failures, bad temperament, accident, and stupidity. Sometimes all those types of things happened, and we still managed to have a great time.

The Charter Business Part 2

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 07:00:00 +0000

To be successful in the charter boat business you need the right personality, sailing skill set, fix-it skill set, vast amount of energy, and the commitment to building the business. I set out three different levels of the charter business. Brokage charter is when you buy a boat and put into a company who runs the charter business. Monied yacht charters are also a good way to get into the business and make it successful, but cash flow will have to come from the outside. Still the keys to success are personality, a mad skill set covering cooking, sailing, engineering, social skills, and psychological understanding of yourself and those around you. It’s not easy. It’s not for everyone. If you still think you can do it you are off to a good start, perseverance and dogged commitment are prime attributes.

The Charter Business

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 9 Jun 2021 07:12:34 +0000

I can see several points where my life voyage has made important turns. Certainly, learning to sail as a young boy with my grandfather set me on the sailor’s way. Buying my first boat, Steppenwolf, which I’ve documented in the Casket Salesman Episode # 6 podcast. My military experience. Time away from the water while I went to school, married, divorced, etc. etc. etc. I was a domestic tragedy. The inflection points in my life as a sailor started as I document in My First Captain’s Gig Episode #4 podcast. It was later in the voyage of my life, that I wrote a couple of films, made some dough that I was ready to wander the seas.

It was 1976. I was running a cruise boat in New York Harbor. I had a full boat of 141 passengers, plus 30 waiters and chefs, and four actual crew. It was the Bicentennial Celebration, and I was positioning the boat in the middle of the Hudson River to watch the fireworks. I was surrounded by hundreds of boats in the middle of the river. I was very busy maintaining my station running from port to starboard steering stations. I saw the fireworks reflected in the glass of the world trade centers. I loved my job. I loved writing as well. And here was the tension. Write, which was very inconsistent money or captaining which was consistent. This tension is something that every sailor has to deal with unless of course you have plenty of money or you are retired with plenty of income. If you are young and in your prime working years, the tension between the alure of the sea and the grind of the paycheck cause problems. At his time in my life the job of captain was the grind. I didn’t want another day go by with out traveling. I made the decision that night that I wouldn’t be the supporting cast in someone else’s movie. After all I only have one life to live. Later that fall, I delivered a sailboat to the Caribbean only to return to America 26 years later in September 2001 a different man with a different outlook on life.

I was back working as a Captain and writing for Hollywood until I just wrote for films and television.

There is a time when a boat owner assesses his boat and his situation. A lot of factors go into this important decision time. As many of you know after listening to my podcasts I often delve into the meaning and symbolism of the sailing life. I like to draw lessons that I have learned for the listener to ponder and maybe act on, I also believe stories can open a many faceted portals to understanding life.

However the fact remains you need to earn income while traveling by yourself if you want to sustain that life. I chose to start a charting business. That decision was an inflection point that lasted for 26 years.

Here is how it started.

Your Flag

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 2 Jun 2021 05:38:32 +0000

The nautical tradition of flags and pennants are an important communication tool is in use today as much as it was a thousand years ago. Every country in the world has regulations on the size and method of national flags and how theyare flown. In fact, we refer to a boat's nationality as a vessel thatis flagged.

This leads me to an observation about flags indifferent cultures. I have never been what you would call a flag waver. I love my country. I have served in the military fighting and defending America in an erroneous war; Vietnam. I’ve marched parades and stood by the side of the street watching parades. I’ve placed the American flag outside my house on Memorial Day and The 4th of July. I grew up in Philadelphia, where Betsy sewed a flag for George to go to war. National history surrounded me all my life. My family has served in the military for three generations.We’ve been awardedmedals for valor and service.We have also been giventhe flag folded in a triangle and stained in tears.

Episode Notes

Kastellorizo

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 26 May 2021 08:19:25 +0000

ITALIANI BRAVA GENTE is a myth fostered by the 1991 academy award winning film Mediterraneo. The decent Italian. I talk about the complexity of the Mediterranean character, one face one place. Diving into the history and the nuances of life on a tiny island made famous for a film, but prior to that pleasant experience was bombed by the Germans, Italians, British, and Americans. I run into an American illegally shipping blue fin Tuna to Japan. I steal a piece of history and suffer from the guilt.

Marinas

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 19 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

History Of Water

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Paulette McWilliams' A Woman's Story

Dinghies

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

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Chateau Beychevelle

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

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Baja

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 7 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

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Liquid Management

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

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Zen Of Sailing

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

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Boat Kids

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

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Los Angeles Harbor

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

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Katabatic Wind

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 3 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

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The Eastern Mediterranean, Part 2

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

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The Eastern Mediterranean

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

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Monaco: Old Money, New Money, and Stupid Money

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

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Solo Sailing

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 3 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

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Master and Commander

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 10:00:00 +0000

The American Mariner owes a great debt to the English maritime industry and the royal navy. To begin understanding the influence I would suggest reading the Patrick O’Brian books. In this podcast, Scott discovers how a series of very well written books influenced his outlook on sailing and places. Tradition, sailing practices, and the detailed immersion during the age of sail translates into better sailing practices and a more nuanced view of life at sea today.

Patrick O'Brian: https://www.patrickobrian.com/

W. W. Norton & Company Publishing: https://wwnorton.com/author/obrianpatrick/patrick-obrian

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Becoming A Sailor

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 10:00:00 +0000

I choose some of the topics from discussions I have with other sailors. I find in general sailors to be pretty sophisticated in their self-awareness and thoughtfulness. I strive to open up areas and notions that will make the sailor better informed and more understanding. Sailing is life. A sailor's point of view is as important to culture and country as any philosopher. Challenge is something you have to do that is difficult. It is not really something staged. Or a choice. Too many young people think it is a challenge to be off social media for a week. Or to go hiking with guides and beverages. In the sailing world, a perceived challenge is crossing an ocean or lake. Sailing solo for a long distance. Living with a maniac on a boat at sea. This is the challenge of becoming a sailor.

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Just In Case

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 10:00:00 +0000

When things go wrong, there are things we hope to never use, but keep them just in case. What happens when you have to use them? Scott tells us of the time he was stranded on his sailboat as a teenager. The invention of the steam engine did not prevent boats from carrying sails just in case.

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Sex, Relationships, and Sailing

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 6 Jan 2021 09:28:34 +0000

I’ve gotten a lot of requests from guys that are trying to convince their wife or girlfriend to go sailing, sell their house, car, and everything else they have and jump on a boat and spend the rest of their lives sailing. Now I’m not a relationship advice kind of guy. Chris Rock said, “Relationships are like carrying a sofa: you can’t do it by yourself and even with two people it’s still difficult.” But here are ten tips for sex, relationships, and sailing.

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Babble Part 2

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 10:00:00 +0000

As the year draws to a close, Scott and Todd reminisce about the past year of the podcast and some of the most popular episodes. They also discuss the origin of the podcast as well as plans for the future.

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Christmas At The Bitter End

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 08:28:52 +0000

I spent 17 Christmases on Virgin Gorda at the Bitter End Yacht Club and Saba Rock. This is not just any Christmas story, this is a sailor’s Christmas story. As a sailor, you’re almost always away from home, and home becomes a kind of idea. But sitting at the Bitter End on a mooring with the bow of the boat bobbing, pointing directly into the trades, the wind a steady 15 knots, you’re protected in the north sound by a deep and long reef filled with fish and other artifacts. It is the elbow of the windward islands, there’s nothing but ocean beyond that reef. There I met a man named Burt Kilbride, a living legend and the world’s oldest Scuba diver, known affectionately as the last Pirate of the Caribbean. He told me of his quest to find Drake’s treasure.

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Links:

Bert Kilbride: https://www.visitcaymanislands.com/en-us/isdhf/isdhf-bios/bert-kilbride

Bitter End Yacht Club: https://beyc.com/

Saba Rock: https://sabarock.com/

Arrested In Marbella

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Scott recounts meeting and befriending Al Kassar, a famous weapons merchant. Sailing brings you into many situations, good and bad, but mostly situations where right and wrong is too close to call. Scott implores everyone to stretch their legs, shake the cruising cobwebs off, get out of your boat (Your monastery!), and meet people that are not taxi drivers, marina workers, restaurant servers, etc. The value in travel is in your growth and sometimes that growth happens with a party, paella, and criminals.

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The Cruising Mindset

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 9 Dec 2020 08:44:00 +0000

I received a few text messages from a couple that has moved from the land to the boat and now they want to move back to the land. Now they are having a crisis about moving forward with their dreams. It brought to mind the difference between the land mindset and the cruising mindset. Moving from the land to the boat and from the boat back to the land, are two pretty emotional and profound changes in the way one thinks and acts and the way one might see life. It happens to all of us that go cruising for a number of years.

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The American Mariner

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 2 Dec 2020 10:00:00 +0000

For over three hundred years the world came to America by ship and continues with millions of tons of cargo arriving every day. American ports served as the front door to the world. We tell little-known stories about the men and women who shaped our history and life today. The American Mariner stories told port by port paint an astonishing examination of the true American character composed of all races, creeds, and ethnicities. Beneath the icons, PR, and privilege lives a dynamic maritime industry steeped in diversity, equality, ingenuity, energy, and an unbounded desire for freedom. The American Mariner’s influence has touched all facets of American life in unusual and profound ways.

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Lerici, Italy: Gulf of Poets

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Scott recounts his re-discovery of romantic poets, Shelly and Byron, while he supervises building a yacht. He draws a connection between the Romantics and sailing. Scott warns about sailcloth weight. He visits a local restaurant and learns to eat Italian style. He learns the history of a merchant marine bar with interesting clientele. He befriends a local wine shop owner where he learns the wine shop was once a candle shop where Byron and Shelly bought their candles. He finds the importance of the bell tower for the residents and the mariner.

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Links:

https://www.sanlorenzoyacht.com/uk/index.asp

https://mare-blu.business.site

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias

https://www.northsails.com

https://www.falconyachts.com/

https://www.perininavi.it

The Pirate Mythos

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Desperation causes bad decisions and sometimes bloody ones as well. I can’t recall another group of men who have been so thoroughly evil that have been so incautiously elevated to the status of the loveable rogue. Scott talks about a trip down the Suez Canal around Somalia to Kenya and back. Some tips on traveling in pirate-infested waters and an examination of the history of piracy.

Links:

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The Food Imperative

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 4 Nov 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Scott explores the link between food and sailing. The desire for spices to preserve and flavor food drives the Age of discovery. That desire to travel further and faster for trade is accompanied by technical achievements in sailing. The most important commodity in the world for the longest time was pepper. Scott talks about today’s modern refrigeration systems for boats. He also delves into some special recipes for conch and the old standby “The Captain’s Chicken!” Yummy!

Links:

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Buy Mustang Survival Gear: http://bit.ly/OffshoreSurvivalGear

Murder On The High Seas

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 09:00:00 +0000

In the tradition of Conrad, Scott tells the story of psychological stress and a captain's breaking point. In the middle of the ocean with little legal tracking of crew members, getting away with murder is a lot easier than anywhere in the world. Sail with our narrator from Trinidad to Gibraltar while under a curse. Even if you don't believe in curses and superstitions doesn't mean that they don't exist. Join us in this thrilling murder mystery on the high seas.

Links:

Boating Myths and Superstitions: https://www.formulaboats.com/blog/boating-myths-and-superstitions/

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Buy Mustang Survival Gear: http://bit.ly/OffshoreSurvivalGear

Offshore Explorer Trailer

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 05:18:02 +0000

Experience the world through the sailor's eyes. We travel around the world discovering the invaluable insights that made us who we are, sharing art, food, history, and culture. We tell stories about life from the sailor's point of view! Sailing adventures, traveling stories across the oceans. An informative and entertaining podcast.

Rhodes, Greece: The Veil Of History

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 09:00:00 +0000

Sitting in Mandraki Harbor in Rhodes Greece in my boat, I was surrounded by layers of history of exhausting effort and mortal combat driven by the conflict over whose God was the true God which belies the peaceful hustle and bustle of the port.

Rhodes is the largest continuously occupied fortress city in the world. The Colossus of Rhodes stood here in 290 BC some six hundred years before the Nicaea council met to codify the rules of Christian worship. Through long periods, Rhodes was a center for trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was an open city. Open to ideas that flourished through the ages. Rhodes was a formidable military center. It was the central headquarters of the Knights of St. John during the crusades. No other religions we allowed to be practiced in the gates of the fortress except Christianity. The Knights of Saint John eventually were driven out of Rhodes by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522. The siege took six months, 100,000s of men, and thousands of ships. Rhodes remained under Ottoman control until Italy seized Rhodes in 1912. During the Ottoman rule, all religions were allowed to practice.

Read the blog post here: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-first-greek-easter.html

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Buy Mustang Survival Gear: http://bit.ly/OffshoreSurvivalGear

Links:

Roditis Shipping and Yachting Service: https://rya.gr/

Yacht Service in Greece: https://www.yachtagent.gr/

Buying A Boat, Part 2

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 09:00:00 +0000

In this second part of buying a boat, we discuss the safety and rescue gear needed aboard a boat, including first aid kits, personal floatation devices, and life rafts. We also go over the process of buying a new custom boat and why you need a boat surveyor.

Read the blog: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Buy Mustang Survival Gear: http://bit.ly/OffshoreSurvivalGear

Links:

Medical Kits: https://mymedic.com/

Yamaha Outboards: https://yamahaoutboards.com/

Unexpected Boat Ownership Costs: https://boateasyblog.com/2019/10/18/unexpected-boat-ownership-costs/

How To Hire A Boat Surveyor: https://www.yachts360.com/how-to-hire-a-boat-surveyor/

American Sailing Association: https://asa.com/

Buying A Boat, Part 1

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 7 Oct 2020 09:00:00 +0000

So you want to buy a boat? Scott discusses some of the parameters you should consider when you are buying a boat. When buying an older boat where do you start? Scott lays out a step by step plan on how to tackle the big projects on refurbishing a boat. Scott shares his experience in buying his first charter boat CT54.

Read the blog: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Buy Mustang Survival Gear: http://bit.ly/OffshoreSurvivalGear

Links:

Unexpected Boat Ownership Costs: https://boateasyblog.com/2019/10/18/unexpected-boat-ownership-costs/

Find The Right Yacht Broker: https://www.yachtworld.com/research/choosing-yacht-broker/

American Sailing Association: https://asa.com/

Words Across The Sea with Poet David Rigsbee

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 09:00:10 +0000

David Rigsbee is the author of 21 books and chapbooks, including seven previous full-length collections of poems. In addition to his poems, he has also published critical works on Carolyn Kizer and Joseph Brodsky, whom he also translated. He has co-edited two anthologies, including Invited Guest: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Southern Poetry, a “notable book” selection of the American Library Association and the American Association of University Professors and featured on C-Span Booknotes. His work has appeared in AGNI, The American Poetry Review, The Georgia Review, The Iowa Review, The New Yorker, The Iowa Review, The Ohio Review, Poetry, Prairie Schooner, The Sewanee Review, The Southern Review, and many others. He has been the recipient of two creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as an NEH summer fellowship to the American Academy in Rome. His other awards include The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown Fellowship, The Virginia Commission on the Arts literary fellowship, The Djerassi Foundation, and Jentel Foundation residencies, and an Award from the Academy of American Poets. Winner of a 2012 Pushcart Prize, the Vachel Lindsay Poetry Award, and the Pound Prize, he was also the 2010 winner of the Sam Ragan Award for contribution to the arts in North Carolina. Rigsbee is currently contributing editor for The Cortland Review.

Read the blog: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Links:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/david-rigsbee

https://blacklawrencepress.com/authors/david-rigsbee/

https://rigsbeepoetryconsultations.com/index.html

Salvage

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:00:22 +0000

Running Aground occurs when there is no longer deep enough water to float a vessel. This will sometimes be done intentionally, for instance, to perform maintenance or to land cargo, but more than likely it occurs due to misinformation about water depths, operator error, or a change in the bottom structure of a waterway.

Scott tells us the story of the time he ran aground and how he got out of it. He also tells us of his time working for vessel assist, helping boaters that have run aground or gotten stranded.

Read the blog: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Links:

Tow Boat US: https://www.boatus.com/

10 Tips: If your boat is stuck aground: http://commutercruiser.com/10-tips-for-when-youre-aground/

A Captain's Guide To Boat Salvage: https://www.inthebite.com/2018/09/a-captains-guide-to-boat-salvage/

The Mosaic Artist

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 09:00:09 +0000

A new series titled “Dry Port Series.” This is an experimental series in storytelling. We will be telling one story per country we visit. An experience every cruising sailor knows when visiting a new port, country, or continent he or she will hear a story that relates to their quest to see the world. Stories that cross our course ultimately changing our direction. The Mosaic Artist starts in Seville Spain once the richest port in the world even though it is far from the sea.

Triana is an industrial neighborhood of Seville Spain famous for tiles. The industry dates back to Roman times, using clay from La Cartuja, to the north of the area. Carlos Garcia was eight years old when the Spanish Civil War started. July 1936.

Link to the blog post: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2019/12/mosaic-artist.html

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Links:

About Seville: https://earth.esa.int/web/earth-watching/image-of-the-week/content/-/article/seville-spain

The Spanish Civil War: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spanish-civil-war-breaks-out

Games of Thrones in Spain: https://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/alcazar/game-of-thrones.htm

Sex and Sailing

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 9 Sep 2020 09:00:08 +0000

I had built a life for myself in New York. I was almost a successful playwright. That part of my literary claim teetered on a couple of shows, that were well received, but didn’t make money and the nagging thought that I really had no voice. At least not a distinctive voice. I didn’t have an important voice. I was making all the wrong choices from a pool of bad choices then throwing myself into them to make them right knowing all the while I was making a mistake. This was also reflected in my personal life which seemed no better than the constant need for intimacy and the cruel let down that sex and intimacy are two separate acts, that rarely support one another until you figure it out. Most people never figure it out. Sometimes in the perfect world they might, but that learned lesson was a lifetime away from being learned by me.

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Links:

Sailing experience and sex as correlates of spatial ability: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15291232/

Inside The Sordid World Of Superyachts: https://www.marieclaire.com.au/superyachts-sordid-world-me-too

The Romance of Sailing: https://www.yacht-rent.com/the-romance-of-sailing

Scoundrels

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 2 Sep 2020 13:00:21 +0000

Scott recounts a bizarre set of events when he and his girlfriend/mate are asked to relieve a perfidious captain of his command. What seemed like a simple thing turns into a nightmare. A scoundrel, like a rich owner trying to save a dime, a captain with an angle to steal a yacht, a mate with amazing language and fighting skills, and an American friend who likes to swing for the fences. A bizarre story of sabotage, lying, suitcase of cash, and a dysfunctional family. Oh! There is some sailing and crooked government types to boot as well…..

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Links:

Ferretti Yachts: https://www.ferretti-yachts.com/en-us/

Puerto Banus: https://puerto-banus.com/

San Lorenzo Yachts: https://www.sanlorenzoyacht.com/uk/index.asp

Babble

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 10:20:59 +0000

Scott and Todd discuss various topics, including different types of sailors, the Phoenicians, how to survive a hurricane, the importance of place, sailing history, and some potential upcoming guests and stories. Where does Scott find those amazing boat pictures? Scott battles a rat on his boat. What kind of food to bring on a long voyage. And more!

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Links:

Boat Hurricane Preparation: https://www.boatus.com/magazine/2011/june/hurricaneprep.asp

The Phoenicians: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phoe/hd_phoe.htm

A Sailor In Love

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 5 Aug 2020 08:49:26 +0000

There is an interesting subset of men who move onto their boats after a degree of emotional trauma to make a new life. Options exist to learn lessons about themselves. Some men chose to learn and change, and some men don’t. If you have been around long enough you will easily recognize these sailors. This is the story of RB Johnson, a Scottish merchant marine captain who must reset his life after economic and personal setbacks. It is a story about love and healing from a man’s point of view.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Blog post: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-sailor-in-love.html

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Links:

Fraserburgh, Scotland: https://discoverfraserburgh.com/

Hallberg-Rossy: https://www.hallberg-rassy.com/

The Bermuda Sloop

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 08:48:46 +0000

In the process of researching for the truth behind the Myth of the American Mariner for a new series, Scott ponders a time when he wasn’t quite ready to tackle sailing to Bermuda from New Jersey in his 21-foot sloop. Several years later, he visits several times but only in transit between the Caribbean and Europe. In his latest exploration of the island, he finds a whole history of Black Bermudian’s who strongly influenced boat building and design with their consummate skills. Their efforts helped in the war of Independence and populated American ships for decades with strong, able seaman for the American Merchant Navy.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Links:

Bermuda Department of Marine & Ports Services: http://www.rccbermuda.bm/

White Horse Pub and Restaurant: http://www.whitehorsebermuda.com/

Marine Single Sideband: https://www.latitude38.com/features/SSB.html

Struck By Lightning

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 08:24:53 +0000

Scott recounts being struck by lightning between Bermuda and New York City. Chances are 1 in 1000 for a boat to be struck by lightning according to US Boat Insurance. Lightning is as unpredictable as it is powerful. Despite all the preparation and good practices preparing his boat for lightning no amount of preparation could prepare him for the lightning strike.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Links:

Faraday Cage: https://science.howstuffworks.com/faraday-cage.htm

How likely are you to be struck by lightning?: https://www.boatus.com/magazine/2017/april/lightning-strikes.asp

Boston Harbor Lightning strike: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2019/07/08/video-boat-boston-hit-lightning-goes-viral/1672410001/

God Asked Me To Become a Drug Runner

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 07:59:11 +0000

This is a true story. I changed the names to protect the guilty. God will have to be his own judge on this one. Self judgement begs review. I can safely say it is not looking good for him. As for me I am guilty as charged. I ran drugs for God.

Let me start with the reason for publicly admitting to the crimes of drug running, drug possession, smuggling, entering foreign countries without permission, running from the US Coast Guard, US Navy, and the Dutch Navy, deliberately violating a presidential order, and a host of international maritime laws. I have written a movie based on these transgressions. The movie is called “Not A Moment To Lose.” For your sharper tools in the shed, that is Jack Aubrey’s favorite saying in all the Patrick O’Brian (Aubrey/Maturin Novels). The film is a romantic comedy adventure. For those of you who know my writing, or I should say for the twenty or so people who know my film writing Romcoms are not a genre you would associate with me. So yes, it is a departure for me, as is telling the truth about my experiences on the high seas.

Blogpost: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2019/09/i-became-drug-runner-because-god-asked.html

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Pongo: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/arts/music/pongo-portugal.html

Episode links:

Haiti Embargo: https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/29/world/aristide-asks-un-to-place-a-total-embargo-on-haiti.html

Parthenon Marbles: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/greece-calls-again-for-return-of-pathenon-marbles/ar-BB14uBba

Photographer Steven Lapkin

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 8 Jul 2020 13:00:29 +0000

Freelance photographer. Specialized genre includes on, off and above-the-water locales and venues. A native of Northern California (Lake Tahoe and the San Francisco Bay area), Steve also travels within the Pacific Northwest (Seattle and Portland environs.) Steve works on behalf of WEST MARINE, TRAVELERS INSURANCE and for publications such as SAILINGWORLD, YACHTING, SAILINGSCUTTLEBUTT, T2P.tv. His portfolio features unrivaled imagery of the classic wooden speedboats of Lake Tahoe, America's Cup Regattas, San Francisco Rolex Big Boat Series, Key West Race Week, Miami Sail Week.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Episode links:

H20Mark: https://www.h2omark.com/

Buy Steve's art: https://steven-lapkin.pixels.com/

More of Steve's work: https://www.turningart.com/artist/steven-lapkin

Thunderbird Lodge: https://www.thunderbirdtahoe.org/

Thunderbird Yacht: https://www.thunderbirdtahoe.org/index.php/yacht-history

Riva Yacht: https://www.riva-yacht.com/en-us/

Lake Como: https://lakecomotravel.com/lake-como-italy/

Lake Tahoe Boat Tours: https://www.laketahoe.com/top-10-tahoe-boat-tours

Navigation: The Beginning Of Time, The End Of Time

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 1 Jul 2020 11:09:39 +0000

Before GPS, before Loran, before the sextant, before the astrolabe, before the cross-staff the perception of time was very different than it is in today’s modern mind. Time has changed, at least the way we perceive time. What time is it? Is a modern concept of specificity. Time is essentially a mind exercise in incrementality. At the beginning years of civilization time was thought of in two increments, the sunup the sundown and the seasons; planting, growing, harvesting, and wintering. The language of time before clocks was a language pocked full of references to distance. The average person understood distance more clearly as an increment.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scintillians

Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/offshoreexplorer

Episode links:

Hedy Lamarr and the invention of GPS: https://www.hertz.com/blog/automotive/hertz-how-actress-hedy-lamarr-laid-thefoundation-for-gps

Origin of Greenwich Mean Time: https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/greenwich-mean-time-gmt

Marina Del Rey Hotel: https://www.marinadelreyhotel.com/

Catalina Island: https://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/

American Sailing Association: https://asa.com/

The Rudder

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 13:00:06 +0000

We’ve heard about it. We have probably used the phrase “to be rudderless.” We probably felt aimless at times. We might even know that boats and planes have rudders and that they function the same way, as control services. What we may not know is without the development of the trusted rudder the direction and development of humankind might have been vastly different.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Links:

Blogpost: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2019/11/going-where-i-meant-to-go.html

Chinese Junk: https://www.dkfindout.com/us/history/ancient-china/chinese-junk/

Port of Los Angeles: https://www.portoflosangeles.org/

Chinese Explorers, Xu Fu: http://www.thatsmags.com/shanghai/post/8212/history-of-the-hai-chinas-most-famed-explorers-and-adventurers

History of Port of Los Angeles: https://www.dailynews.com/2007/12/05/port-of-los-angeles-marks-100-years-since-its-creation/

Development of The Rudder: https://www.medievalists.net/2010/06/the-development-of-the-rudder-100-1600-a-d-a-technological-tale/

Antibes, France: The Whiff of Success

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 13:00:08 +0000

Antibes had long been in my mind as a destination. Just knowing about a small town in the South of France was something of a feat for a young boy from the streets of Northeast Philly. The French coast of the Mediterranean from St. Tropez to Monaco is promoted as the French Riviera. This collection of little seaside towns and fishing ports host the dreams of the world. A place of glamorous intent, yet simple French summer elegance.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Blog post: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2020/06/france-whiff-of-success-antibes-had.html

Links:

Hotel du Cap: https://www.oetkercollection.com/hotels/hotel-du-cap-eden-roc/

Port Vauban: https://www.marina-port-vauban.com/

Picasso Museum: https://www.antibesjuanlespins.com/en/must-see-must-do/culture-and-heritage/museums/picasso-museum-2031894

Monaco Grand Prix: https://www.formula1.com/en/information.monaco-circuit-de-monaco-monte-carlo.2ZWRtIcSI6ZzVGX1uGRpkJ.html

Luxury Yachts: https://www.superyachts.com/

TimBatSea

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 09:30:05 +0000

Captain Tim Boehmer has been a tugboat captain for 20 years. He has plied the waters of the east coast of America. Captain Tim offers insights into sharing the waterways with recreational boaters, the environmental precautions he takes moving barrels of fuel around New York harbor. He talks about maneuvering in shallow water with just a prop and rudder. Lots of applicable wisdom for all boaters.

Please be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Check out our blog: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offshoreexplorerpodcast/

TimBatSea on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TimBatSea

Mutiny!

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 3 Jun 2020 13:00:04 +0000

During this time of strife Scott is reminded of Mutiny, and an experience he had. While running charters for the Four Seasons Hotel on Nevis Island, Scott runs into trouble when his mate attacks him. Police, crooked cops, insanely jealous husbands, willful women, and a smooth drink called Ting Sting lubricate the story.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scintillians

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offshoreexplorerpodcast/

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Offshoreexplorer

Links:

Four Seasons Nevis: https://www.fourseasons.com/nevis/

St. Martin: http://www.stmartinisland.org/

Mount Nevis Hotel: https://mountnevishotel.com/

Dispatch From Portugal: Rita Garcia

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 27 May 2020 13:00:03 +0000

Rita is a professional book author, a skillful writer and copywriter, creative, producer and translator, with a proven track record of delivering tangible results and an Award winning Journalist (1 st Prize of Novartis Oncology Journalism Award, 2 nd Prize of Henrique de Barros Award). With extensive experience as a Film and Video fixer with local and overseas clients, she has broadened to encompass a variety of activities acquiring an extensive network of contacts in a wide range of sectors and roles within the media and international relations.

She is a warm and enthusiastic team player, who always appreciates the opportunity to achieve the objectives of the task. These natural gifts make her an ideal choice for assignments in the fields of media liaison, production and fixing, cultural research, sourcing talent and connecting international projects together.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and leave a review!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offshoreexplorerpodcast/

Links:

Fixer Portugal: http://www.fixerportugal.com/

Buraka Som Sistema: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/arts/music/buraka-som-sistema-reveals-lisbons-musical-melting-pot.html

Pongo: https://pongo.lnk.to/UWAID

Vhils: https://www.vhils.com/

Bruno Nogueira: https://www.instagram.com/corpodormente

Hot Clube Portugal: https://hcp.pt/

Protocol

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 20 May 2020 13:00:47 +0000

When you stop at a port in a country for the first time, there is a protocol for checking in to the country. They usually combine immigration and customs in one office except for Greece. The offices can be on opposite sides of the island. If you are bringing a yacht into the country it is a simple formality. In Sicily the Port Captain openly wondered why I was checking in since he felt Sicily was the fifty first sate of America! “We even celebrate Thanksgiving!” He still made me pay the fees, but the general sentiment was lovely. He stamped my passport and papers with a flourish and a beautiful smile.

Be sure to Subscribe, rate and review!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offshoreexplorerpodcast/

Blog post: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2019/12/protocol.html

Links in Palermo, Italy:

https://www.visitpalermo.it/en/meraviglia/ballaro-and-il-capo-the-markets-102.html

http://www.ycm.it/homepage.htm

https://goo.gl/maps/BUj6Ui74gVTwJCzGA

https://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/thinksicily/guide-to-sicily/all-things-sicilian/sicilian-writers.aspx

Links in Tabarka, Tunisia:

http://www.lacigaletabarka.com

https://tunisie.co/article/345/actus/plaisance/tabarka-482716

https://www.sea-seek.com/Tabarka

http://www.tunisiatv.com/camel-trekking-tours-in-tunisia/

http://www.tourismtunisia.com/?fbclid=IwAR0GyqWnE2Ax-e7tKeh1FvugLJEhMARyNZRu2SElNPalN2De_jniUQjLCNI

Symi, Greece: The Importance Of Place, A Fresh Perspective

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 13 May 2020 13:00:11 +0000

Consider this mental experiment for a moment. When you stand outside in your own town, histories, incidents, observations, all rush through your mind creating a feeling of nostalgia, romance, anger, indifference, or maybe sadness. Combined with the familiarity of the place you have a pretty good idea what your place is about and how you fit in it. Offshore Explorer gives you a primer about ports and the people so you will have a deeper understanding of their place.

When you travel and see places for the first time. The effect is they jar your perceptions and shape your observations, creating a kind of clarity. Experiencing places also can reinforce your ideas and personal philosophies. If you are looking for something in yourself, the journey will help you discover it.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Blog post: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-importance-of-place-fresh.html

LINKS:

Symi Travel Guide: https://www.greeka.com/dodecanese/simi/

Yacht Charter in Symi: https://mygreekcharter.com/greece-island/symi/

Roditis Shipping and Yachting Service: https://rya.gr/

Yacht Service in Greece: hhttps://www.yachtagent.gr/

Raid on Symi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Symi

Tommy Twang!

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson, Tommy Twang) — Wed, 6 May 2020 14:37:32 +0000

Tommy “Twang” Ivicevich is my friend. Saying that really means something. He is beloved by all, even the ex-wife. Tommy’s spirit is best described as the boy who rode his bike down the biggest hill into cross traffic and nothing happened. He’s the cool dude who played in “that” band we all went to see. He is an ocean spirit who dove for Abalone and to not waste the shells he built electric guitars, at least that is the myth. He’s a builder and a maker of stained glass windows, of houses, and of a Wright brothers' replica plane that hangs in a museum in Israel. He’s a busker with a sweet sound and fun entertainer. Above all he is a very fine sailor and lover of vessels of all kinds. Tommy is special and that’s not because he has two “Vs” in his last name.

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Blog: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/

Links:

https://www.pancanal.com/eng/

http://downeasteryachts.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpfRi8UGZVk

https://www.igymarinas.com/marinas/marina-cabo-san-lucas

http://www.lamarinaacapulco.com/en/

http://marinapuestadelsol.com

http://www.bananabaymarinagolfito.com

http://www.apiqroo.com.mx

Write Your Own Story

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 13:00:16 +0000

For me not to mention the virus racing through humanity causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and untold economic and emotional misery would be shortsighted and unfair to the reader. I have known many tragedies in my lifetime, some personal and some public. Those tragedies have burnished an impression on my soul far deeper than normal. We as a modern people have lived with far less tragedy than our parents or forefathers. I am recalling a story that my grandmother told me about her parents.

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Blog Post: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2020/04/write-your-own-story.html

Antigua: https://visitantiguabarbuda.com

Monserrat: https://www.montserratvisita.com/en/index.html

Four Seasons Nevis: https://www.fourseasons.com/nevis/

Saba: https://www.sabatourism.com

St. Martin: http://www.stmartinisland.org

Don't Yell At Me!

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 13:00:03 +0000

Let me be clear, people who yell at me on a boat will be thrown overboard and allowed to swim home. If they can’t swim, then they should drown with a proper sense of decorum and shame! There is no room on any vessel for yelling!

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Blog Post: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2020/03/dont-yell-at-me.html

Antigua: https://visitantiguabarbuda.com/

Sailing Week: https://www.sailingweek.com/event/guadaloupe-to-antigua-race/

Rhodes: http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/greek_islands/rhodes

Falmouth Harbor: http://antigua-marina.com/

The Casket Salesman

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Scott Dodgson, Todd Bartoo) — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 13:00:04 +0000

Marilyn Monroe, dead bodies, and pickles, what do they have in common? A 12 year old Scott spends a summer with his grandfather, The Casket Salesman.

He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1922. He was a coal miner's son. He lost his parents early in his life to yellow fever. He was raised by a step-aunt. We called her Grandma Nichols. I remember her as mean, crotchety, and having a bad, but hilarious habit of letting her teeth fall out of her mouth into her lap while she talked. She spread darkness and fear everywhere she went. Uncle Willard worked in the mine as a 12-year-old. He bought a yellow and beige convertible Buick when he was 16 years old.

Later, he drove coal trucks from Scranton to New York City. He gave a lift to Marylin Monroe once before she was famous. He told me he always had the gift for storytelling, but he really got good after he was shot down over Germany during WWII and spent three years a prisoner in a German Stalag.

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Link to blogpost: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-casket-salesman.html

How Much Can You Carry?

dayworkerproductions@gmail.com (Todd Bartoo, Scott Dodgson) — Wed, 8 Apr 2020 13:00:19 +0000

Here is a simple exercise in relationships between the physical past and the physical present. How much can you physically carry in your arms?

Where you are going? What is the reason you are carrying your maximum load? How far do you need to go?

Most of us experience this “personal load” carrying groceries or running through the airport dragging suitcases. No matter what it is we are carrying it’s not fun. It wasn’t fun three thousand years ago either. Remarkably the physical struggle has been creative and enterprising. Ships play an important part in the evolution of how much you can carry. They still carry more than any other transportation vehicle invented.

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Link to blogpost: https://offshoreexplorer.blogspot.com/2019/09/how-much-can-you-carry.html

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